4:40 pm

Fri June 28, 2013

Bittersweet At No. 1: How A Japanese Song Topped The Charts In 1963

Underlying the sweetness of Kyu Sakamoto's unexpected hit song "Sukiyaki" was a story of sadness and loss.

Courtesy of the artist

Fifty years ago today, the No. 1 song in America was an import from Japan: a song about young love called "Sukiyaki," sung by Kyu Sakomoto.

Ian Condry, who teaches Japanese culture at MIT, says "Sukiyaki" transcended language because it hit an emotional nerve. The song spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard charts in June 1963 and was already a huge hit in Japan before its American debut. But what most listeners in the U.S. probably didn't realize was how it symbolized Japan's return to the world stage.

"1963 was when Japan was returning to the world scene after the destruction of WWII," Condry says. "1964 was the Tokyo Olympics. And Japan's economy was expanding globally and so, in some ways, the song is kind of an interesting metaphor for that global expansion of Japan on the world scene."

Kyu Sakamoto was the face of this new postwar Japan: a clean-cut, 21-year-old pop idol. But Condry says that underlying the song's sweetness was a story of sadness and loss.

"The lyricist Rokusukay Ey was looking back on the failure of the protest movement in Japan," he says.

In the late 1950s, there had been huge protests against the continued American military presence.

"There was a virtual occupation of the Diet, which is the Japanese parliament, and student protests were happening all over — tens of thousands of people marching and chanting," Condry says. "Nevertheless, the government went ahead and signed the security treaty."

Condry says that experience left many young people disillusioned about protests. And so, in Sakamoro's song, he says he hears the longing for a fresh start.

"'Walking along, looking up, so that the teardrops won't flow out of my eyes / I look back on a spring day on this lonely night,'" Condry says, translating the lyrics. "Later he goes on to say, 'A good fortune is beyond the clouds / A good fortune is beyond the sky / So I'm looking up and I'm looking forward, imagining that good fortune in the future.'

"It really is a song about the sadness of looking back, but also being on the cusp of something being better in the future," Condry says. "In some ways, that also helps explain the timelessness of that kind of sentiment."

So while "Sukiyaki" may have come out of a failed protest movement in Japan, that same song — with its hummable melody and sweet disposition — became an unlikely hit in an American summer of change: the summer of 1963.

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Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

This summer, we're looking back at the summer of 1963, as the civil rights movement challenged and shifted the country's political and national consciousness. Those shifts also echoed across pop culture, and we've been tuning into some of the music of 1963.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And 50 years ago today, the number one song in America was actually an import from Japan.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUKIYAKI")

SIEGEL: A song about young love called "Sukiyaki" and sung by Kyu Sakamoto.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUKIYAKI")

IAN CONDRY: It is a kind of "Gangnam Style" of its time.

CORNISH: Ian Condry teaches Japanese culture at MIT, and he says "Sukiyaki" transcended language because it hit an emotional nerve.

SIEGEL: The song spent three weeks at the top of the billboard charts in June of 1963. It was already a huge hit in Japan before its American debut. And what most listeners here probably didn't realize was how it was symbolic of Japan's return to the world stage.

CONDRY: 1963 was when Japan was returning to the world scene after the destruction of World War II. 1964 was the Tokyo Olympics, which were right on the horizon. And Japan's economy was expanding globally, and so in some ways, the song is a kind of interesting metaphor for that global expansion of Japan on the world scene.

CORNISH: The singer Kyu Sakamoto was the face of this new postwar Japan, a clean-cut 21-year-old pop idol, but Ian Condry says underlying the song's sweetness was a story of sadness and loss.

CONDRY: The lyricist Rokusukay Ey was looking back actually on the failure of the protest movement in Japan.

SIEGEL: In the spring of 1960, there had been huge protests against the continued American military presence.

CONDRY: There was a virtual occupation of the Diet, which is the Japanese parliament, and student protests were happening all over - tens of thousands of people marching and chanting. And nevertheless, the government marched ahead and signed the security treaty.

SIEGEL: Ian Condry says that experience left many young people disillusioned about protests.

CORNISH: And in Kyu Sakamoto's song, he says he hears the longing for a fresh start.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUKIYAKI")

CORNISH: So what that means is walking along, looking up so that the teardrops won't flow out of my eyes. I look back on a spring day on this lonely night.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUKIYAKI")

CORNISH: Later, he goes on to saying...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUKIYAKI")

CONDRY: ...(foreign language spoken), a good fortune is beyond the clouds. A good fortune is beyond the sky. So I'm looking up and looking forward and imagining that good fortune in the future. So it really is a song about the sadness of looking back but also being on the cusp of something being better in the future. And so that in some ways also helps explain the timelessness of that kind of sentiment.

SIEGEL: So while the pop hit "Sukiyaki" may have come out of a failed protest movement in Japan, that same song with its hummable melody and sweet disposition became an unlikely hit in an American summer of change: the summer of 1963.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUKIYAKI")

CORNISH: "Sukiyaki" has been much covered since its release. You can hear five different versions at nprmusic.org.

SIEGEL: You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.